


The Gift of the Tragi!

by dorbee



Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: F/M, Inspired by The Gift of the Magi - O. Henry, One Shot, the silly title should make that much obvious
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-24
Updated: 2019-11-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 16:54:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21551689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dorbee/pseuds/dorbee
Summary: Scrooge McDuck was no thief! He made his fortune square! Any treasure he found was nobody’s before he got his hands on it! And the Canopic Jar of Eternity was his, so it wasn’t exactly thievery if he took it back from Goldie… right?
Relationships: Scrooge McDuck/"Glittering" Goldie O'Gilt
Comments: 2
Kudos: 18





	The Gift of the Tragi!

A lot of people had called Scrooge McDuck a lot of things over a lot of years. For the most part, it was water off his back. But there was one insult levied against him that he detested, and that was “thief.” Scrooge McDuck was no thief! He made his fortune square! Any treasure he found was nobody’s before he got his hands on it! And the Canopic Jar of Eternity _was_ his, so it wasn’t exactly thievery if he took it _back_ from Goldie… right? That’s what he told himself when he picked her window lock and snuck inside. 

Goldie’s home doubled as a small hotel, where she got the top-floor suite. That meant there were three floors of people below him to wake up. He had to tread lightly. Goldie might have been a dirty rotten scoundrel, but that didn’t mean she lacked friends. It just meant her friends would be happy to put Scrooge McDuck so far in the ground God couldn’t find him. Tip-toeing with maximum grace, he narrowed his eyes and searched for the treasure. It was a plain limestone jar with the head of Hapi, the baboon-headed Egyptian god of the north. It shouldn’t have been too hard to find, but… man, had his eyesight really gotten this bad? 

“Curse me kilts, I haven’t handled a navigation nightmare like this in years!” he muttered as he felt along the wall. It was dense with paintings and shelves filled with this, that, and the other thing, but no sign of his canopic jar! After about three rounds of the hallway, he knew he needed to rethink his search. That didn’t mean Goldie was off the hook, no sir! It just meant he’d have to dig a little deeper. 

Scrooge faced down two doors on opposite sides of the hallway. He knew one of them had to contain the canopic jar, and one of them had to contain a sleeping Goldie O’Gilt. He pressed his ear against both doors: no obvious signs of life coming from inside either of them. Nothing to differentiate where Goldie might be. He swallowed hard, closed his eyes, and reached for the handle of the door on the right. It creaked open, and Scrooge opened his eyes to reveal… a room filled with nothing but treasure! He had to stop himself from cheering. Luck was for losers, but thank heavens for his luck today! He took a step in and—

“Hello, Scroogie.”

Scrooge froze mid-stride as the familiar, cold metal tip of a handgun stuck into his back. He turned to face…

“Uh, hi, Goldie,” he said with a sheepish grin. 

Goldie offered disinterested silence before pistol-whipping him across the face. 

“Ack!” Scrooge grabbed his throbbing cheek and scowled. “That was uncalled for!”

Goldie scoffed. “Breaking into my _home_ is uncalled for, McDuck! Are you that dense?”

“I’m only breaking into your home because you broke into mine, ya pilferin’ pretty-eyed—”

“Hey, I might’ve broken in, but I didn’t ‘pilfer’ anything!”

Scrooge raised an eyebrow. “Goldie, you want me to believe you broke into me house, left empty-handed, and the Canopic Jar of Eternity just happened to walk out after ye? What’d it do, head back to Egypt?”

Goldie crossed her arms. “It’s not stealing if you’re going to give it back.” 

Scrooge paused, then broke out into laughter. He could see Goldie going red in the face, but paid it no mind. “Goldie O’Gilt, returning something to me? When pigs fly over Moorshire!” 

She grit her teeth. “Scrooge, I’m not lying! For once, I’m not!”

He rolled his eyes. “Sure, sure. Then I’m sure you won’t have any problem showing me where it is so I can take back what’s mine?” 

Goldie opened her mouth as if to retort, but closed it again a moment later. A patently fake smile came across her face. “Of course, dear.”

She elbowed Scrooge out of the way with the manners of, well, Goldie O’Gilt. She went straight for a shelf on the back wall, scanned it briefly, and grabbed—

“The Canopic Jar of Eternity, in perfect condition, for you,” she said, oozing bitterness as she handed it over.

Scrooge was shocked. He expected her to put up a fight, lie her way out of it, but… no. He reached out and took the jar. The weight was familiar, and he could feel the magical aura against his hands. This didn’t seem to be a fake. “Well, at least you know when to give up sometimes.” He smirked. “And what do ya mean 'perfect condition?' The blasted thing’s been broken since I got it!”

“Not anymore,” Goldie said. She wouldn’t even look at Scrooge.

“Not anymore?”

She let out a growl of frustration, tears in her eyes. “Did you finally go blind? I fixed it for you!” 

“You—what?” He held the jar out in front of him and adjusted his glasses. Sure enough, the long cracks that had covered the sides were repaired and painted over with the care of a restorator. He looked between the jar and Goldie with disbelief. 

“You… you did fix it,” he said, his voice monotone in his dumbfoundedness. “Why?”

That only seemed to make Goldie angrier. “Why? _Why_ !? You’re honestly asking me _why_!?” She stomped up to Scrooge, mere inches away from his face. “Scroogie, I like you, ya big oaf! I remember how disappointed you were when you found this thing damaged, so I—I wanted to help! I wanted to make you happy!”

Scrooge tucked the jar under his arm, backing away with his hands at his chest. “Alright Goldie, alright, I believe ye,” he said, his voice soothing as he could bring it to be. “I believe ye were trying to give me a hand, but if you wanted to help, why’d ya steal the thing?”

Goldie held her breath a moment before answering. “Because I didn’t know what else to do.” 

“Ye could’ve been honest with me.”

“And you wouldn’t have listened!”

Scrooge couldn’t find the words to counter her, because she was right. He sighed and shook his head. “Well, Goldie, I didn’t think I’d be saying this anytime soon, but… thank you.” He reached out a hand, and after a moment’s pause, Goldie took it. Gently, giving her time to pull away if she pleased, he took her hand to his beak and placed a small kiss. He looked back up to her. “And I’m sorry.”

Goldie was still for a second before jerking her hand back and wiping the spot where Scrooge had kissed her. “Yeah, yeah, no need to put on a show, sweetheart,” she muttered. A pause. “But… you _are_ welcome.” 

Scrooge smiled, and he could swear in the dim light, he saw her smile too. 

“Now get out of my house before I use this thing,” Goldie said, brandishing the weapon that Scrooge _almost_ had the privilege of forgetting about.

“With pleasure!” Scrooge went running down the hallway and right back out the window he came in. Goldie stared after him for a few moments before sighing, closing the window, and heading back to bed.

Outside, Scrooge perched himself on the roof. He had his prize, but it felt empty. It didn’t feel like he took back what was his. It felt like he took away someone’s second chance. 

But he couldn’t exactly rewind time, now, could he?

He hopped down from the roof and left to meet his train. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Want to commission a fic? Get in touch! I'm d0rbee on Twitter and Tumblr.
> 
> Kudos, comments, and bookmarks are always appreciated.


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